A few months ago, while visiting my aunt and uncle in San Antonio, I learned how to play Farkle.

The game, which is designed for ages eight and older, resembles Yahtzee because there are dice and a cup; however the object of Farkle is to be the first person to score 10,000 points.

Certain numbers on the dice have point values, and if you don’t get those numbers during your turn, you Farkle, which means you score no points. And to make things really interesting, you must roll at least 500 points before you can even get in the game.

Last week, while baby girl was home from college, hubby and I decided to teach her how to play the game.

Once she had a grasp of how to score points, we cleared the table for some fun.

As beginners luck would have it, my daughter jumped out ahead, but I was close on her heels.

Hubby on the other hand had a hard time even getting into the game.  He couldn’t score the initial 500 points with his roles.  He kept rolling Farkles!

As the game progressed, my daughter and I were continually adding points towards the 10,000 goal, while Hubby was still lagging way behind.

And because of his deficit, he became hell bent on catching up from his slow start, and decided to keep risking the points he had gained for higher scores in an effort to try and catch up.

Sadly for him those risks ended in quite a few Farkles.

With the game advancing further, I continued to inch closer to the desired 10,000 points, and argued that playing it safe, taking no risks, helped me slowly add points.

In fact, I even went so far to say that slow and steady wins the race.  All the while hubby continued to throw caution to the wind.

But then just as I was about to win the game, something crazy happened, and hubby’s risky roles began to pay off.

Roll after roll, his points began to add up. It was like nothing I had ever seen. He was so far behind, who could have imagined he would catch up, but he did. In fact, he wound up winning the game!

I was dumbfounded, especially since I had played the game relying on restraint and safety.

And let me just add, there is nothing worse than losing to hubby!

Following my defeat, I decided to retire for the evening, and as I made my way up the stairs to my bedroom, it dawned on me, there was a lesson to be learned from this loss.

For most of my life I have made sure I “played-it-safe.”  I have been too scared to risk for fear of what I may lose.

But because of this little game, I began to wonder if there have been times in my life when playing it safe was not the best option.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting I should have put life or limb in danger.

I am only wondering about the times when I could have benefited if I had been bold enough to reach outside my comfort zone.

So with the New Year just around the corner, I am thinking there is no better time to start trying to take a few risks.

I may Farkle a few times, but in the end, I could wind up a winner.

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer at The Vicksburg Post. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication.